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Vikings QB
Todd Bouman
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Welcome to the world of the backup quarterback, where there’s about as much
stability as at a long-range planning committee for a dot.com startup.
You can go from a nobody holding a clipboard to the guy in charge in the time it takes
to twist a knee. You also can go back to holding that clipboard in the time it takes to
show rust or nerves or get the starter healthy enough to take the reins back. Playing
second fiddle is an interesting undertaking, to say the least.
Just ask the Vikings’ Todd Bouman, our tour guide on this trip through the
uncertainty of the backup role. He’s been in the NFL since 1997, mostly bouncing
around from the Vikings’ practice squad to NFL Europe to being deactivated as the
third quarterback on Sundays. As a 29-year-old from St. Cloud (Minn.) State, he finally
took his first meaningful snap in a regular-season game three weeks ago. Daunte Culpepper,
one of the most supremely talented quarterbacks the league has ever seen, had been
sidelined with strained ligaments in his knee. The Vikings were down 21-3 to the Steelers,
and just like that, Bouman went from wearing a baseball cap and sending signals into
Culpepper to filling Culpepper’s shoes on the other end of those signals. Ten anxious
faces looking back at him in the huddle, the play clock running and a snarling defensive
end ready to wish him a happy holiday season in his own special way.
"When he got into the Pittsburgh game, he had to be fired up because the first
ball he threw, nobody could have caught it," Vikings QB coach Alex Wood said. "I
mean, it had so much smoke on it, when it got deflected and went in the air, I’ve
never seen a ball go that high in the air before."
Bouman, who had thrown only two career passes prior to Week 12, admitted the adrenaline
was flowing at first. But he eventually would settle down and get into the flow of the
game. And that, Wood says, is when it becomes obvious whether you can play. Bouman can,
and he did, leading the Vikings on two fourth-quarter scoring drives and nearly rallying
them to victory on the last play of the game.
Then came a week of waiting and wondering. Will Culpepper be healthy enough to play or
won’t he? Will Bouman get his first-ever NFL start or won’t he? Will Bouman
bring it all together and persevere when he finally gets to man the Viking ship or
won’t he?
"It had to be a lot of back and forth emotionally for him," admitted Wood,
who said the Vikings held out until Saturday to decide on their starter for Week 13.
If it was, Bouman didn’t show it. He threw for 348 yards and four TD passes in an
18-point win over the Titans and was the talk of the Great White North.
Everything worked well that magical week. A ton of family and friends trekked to the
Metrodome from his nearby hometown of Ruthton, Minn. A couple of Bouman’s buddies
from high school even came in for the weekend to see him. One flew in from Denver. The
three had planned the weekend for a month and a half, and it just so happened they flew in
on the weekend of his first NFL start. A start in which Bouman went from a relative
no-name to a household name. Well, not quite. But at least he could be seen throwing
passes to Randy Moss later that night on "SportsCenter."
In the days that followed, radio talk shows had switchboards lit up with callers
anxious to discuss the new QB controversy. A QB controversy with Daunte Culpepper? Bouman
balks at such a thought.
"Obviously, we have no controversy here," he said. "Daunte’s the
starter, and that’s the way it is. He went to the Pro Bowl last year, and he’s
proven that he’s a great player. "Right now, in my career, I’m here to be a
backup, and I’m here to serve my role. And when I’m needed to go in and play,
I’ll go in and play. That’s the way it is."
That may be the way it is, but it doesn’t have to be for long. Performances like
Bouman’s make general managers perk up like a dog that just heard the can opener
start. Bouman could reach hot-commodity status with another shining performance or two
like that one. And with Culpepper’s knee still giving him trouble late last week,
Bouman got another chance right away. This time, the results weren’t so fruitful. He
had one of his two interceptions returned for a touchdown, as the Vikings became the first
victim of the previously winless Lions.
Being a backup on a team loaded with offensive weapons like Minnesota is a nice way to
live, no doubt. You make better than a decent living, you’re one of the more popular
players in town (especially if the starter is struggling) and the pressure is usually on
someone else.
Problem is, there’s this thing called competitive fire, and it burns inside when
you know you can play. A starter is a starter is a starter in this league. It’s
everything and then some. Trust me, the cameras and the microphones aren’t waiting
for Todd Collins or Jason Garrett to get out of the shower after a game in which they
don’t step foot on the field. At some point, professional athletes need to test
themselves, and Bouman is no different.
"Yeah, that’s a situation that will definitely be looked at down the
road," he said of the lure of the free-agent market. "But right now, I’m
very happy where I am. I grew up here, I’m close to my friends and my family, and not
many guys get the opportunity to play right by home."
If someone had told Bouman in high school or at St. Cloud State that he would take his
first snap ever in the NFL at the not-so-tender age of 29 and, a few weeks later, throw
for more than 300 yards in his first start in leading his hometown Vikings to victory,
what would he have said?
"Back then, I probably would have told you to wake me up, thinking I was
dreaming," he said with a laugh.
Now, instead of having to revert to reality and the life of a backup, Bouman may get
the call for the rest of the season with Culpepper’s status looking bleak.
Bouman took a few snaps with the first-team offense the day I talked with him, but he
was pretty sure the sore knee would be healed enough for Culpepper to make his return last
week, or so he thought.
So it’s back to leading the scout team, I assumed, not knowing the extent of the
swelling in Culpepper’s knee at the time.
"Yeah, time to get the defense ready for Detroit," Bouman said with a
blue-collar tone in his voice.
That’s the job, huh?
"That’s right."
I told him that the next time I talked to him, perhaps it would be with him as a
full-time starter somewhere.
"Yeah, maybe one of these days," he answered. |
